Kabuki’s Epic Indian Outreach

Transformations come easily to Kikunosuke Onoe V. A renowned onnagata—a male actor who plays female roles in Japan’s classical Kabuki dance drama—he is contemplating his next big transformation, into the roles of Karna and Lord Shiva in an upcoming three-hour epic The Battle of the Mahabharata, to be staged in Japan this October.

This month, he portrayed the lovelorn female protagonist in a special production of the Kabuki masterpiece Kyo Kanoko Masume Dojoji, which was staged for a select gathering at the Japanese embassy in New Delhi—the first such performance here in 40 years. An hour after leaving the stage, he is completely unrecognisable. His face has been scrubbed clear of kumadori, the art form’s heavily stylised white makeup. The dramatic outer robes, called uchikake, have been replaced by a fitted dark blue suit and black shoes. His black hair is neatly slicked back, not a strand out of place.

He’s equally unflappable talking about his ambitious plans for the great Indian epic.

The play will feature 40 actors, massive by Kabuki standards. On his first visit to India, the star is trying to understand the significance of the epic. He was inspired by its wellspring of characters and episodes after watching a 2014 staging of the Nalchitram, a theatrical adaptation of Nala-Damayanti. Playwright Satoshi Miyagi transposed the Mahabharata’s love story of the king and the commoner to 10th century Japan. It’s an intriguing confluence. The Japanese believe that Kerala’s Kathakali bears a close similarity to Kabuki, and since the Japanese form was last performed in an Indian auditorium, in 1977, it has spread its wings. “Kabuki doesn’t benefit from state patronage,” Kikunosuke says. “It must innovate to survive.” The Indian epic is part of that innovation.